Hoisting and pulling apparatus



Jan. 12, 1965 P. H. THOMPSON m, EI'AL 3,1

HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 26. 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 1YIIIIIIIIIIIA- Jan. 12, 1965 P. H. THOMPSON m, ETAL 3,165,297

HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 26, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan.12, 1965 P. H. THOMPSON m, ETAL HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS 5Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 26 1962 Jan. 12, 1965 Filed Feb. 26, 1962FIG].

FIGS.

P. H. THOMPSON Ill, ET AL HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet4 Jan. 12, 1965 P. H. THOMPSON m, ETAL 3,165,297

HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 26, 1962FIGQ.

United States Patent 3,165,297 HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS Parke H.Thompson lII, St. Louis County, Charles Eliot Miltenberger, St. Louis,and William S. Waeckerle, Florissant, M0., assignors to Parke H.Thompson H, St. Louis County, Mo. Filed Feb. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 175,4512 Claims. (Cl. 254-486) This invention relates to hoisting and pullingapparatus, and with regard to certain more specific features, toportable capstan type hoists and the like.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision ofa light, eflicient, compact and portable capstan type of hoist andpuller having a wide variety of use such as (but without limitation)elevating and lowering loads on towers and through manholes,transformers on poles, sails on boats, pulling cables through passagesand the like; and the provision of. apparatus of the class describedwhich is very safe and convenient to operate in a wide variety ofcircumstances. Other objects and features will be in part apparent andin part pointed out hereinafter. t The invention accordingly comprisesthe elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, and

arrangements of part which will be exemplified in the constructionshereinafter described, and the scope of which will be indicated in thefollowing claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which several of.

various possible embodiments of the invention are illustrated,

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an application of the invention to atransformer hoisting operation in connection with a pole;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the control switchshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an axial section of parts of a motor-driven capstan assemblyshown in FIG. 1, parts being broken away;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a hoist unit including means for fastening itto a pole;

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are detail sections taken on lines 5-5, 66 and 77,respectively, of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation showing a modification; and

FIG. 9 is a view showing control features applicable to the FIG. 8modification.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the several views of the drawlngs. I

While, as above suggested, the invention has a wide variety ofapplications, an important one is in the electrical industry in which alarge variety of difiicult problems concerning safety and flexibility ofapplication arise in the lifting and lowering of loads such astransformers on poles. Danger and lackof flexibility have heretoforebeen concomitants of hoisting operations performed by poorlycontrollable hoists usually supported on the re pair trucks or the likeat substantial distances from the lifting location. According to thepresent invention,,the

dangers are minimized and close control is obtained of the load beinghandledor the pulling operation which is being performed.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown at P a pole,to the upper end of which it may be desired to elevate a transformer Tfor attachment to a pole bracket (not shown). This operation requiresthe use of tackle, including a conventional gin pole G, a rope, andappropriate tackle-forming pulley mean L. The simplest tacklearrangement for the rope R is shown, it being understood that additionalpulleys .for a multi- Patented Jan. 12, 1965 ice 1 ple-loop tacklearrangement may be employed, as known in the art. The rope R is cinchedby several turns around a capstan 1, from whence it passes to the handsH of an operator 0. The drive for capstan 1 is illustrated in FIG. 3.'This comprises a driving motor M and a speed reducer S, these beingformed in a small 'cylindrical housing connected with a cup-shapedflange unit F in which is a ratcheting one-way brake C. The motor M hasa casing part 3 containing its field member 5 and to which is bolted anend bell 7 for the commutator parts 9 of its armature 11 (see also FIG.4). The bolts for holding the end bell 7 are shown at 13. Extending fromthe armature 11 is a stub shaft 15 (FIG. 3) on which is a radial fan 17,located within a peripheral row of ventilating openings 19. The powerline or control cable for the motor is shown at 21. The motor ispreferably of the small, high-speed, 110 or 120 volt, universal typerated, for example, at 2 HP. at 12,000 rpm. The high-speed variety ispreferred, in order to minimize its size for a given torque. The outsidediameter of the motor is, for example, 4 inches.

The housing of the speed reducer S consists of three rings 23, 25 and 27held together and attached to the flange unit F by means of draw bolts29. These rings hold in place three internal annular orbit gears 31, 33and 35 of a planetary transmission adapted to form a drive between themotor M and the capstan 1. The bolts 29 pass through openings in thegears 31, 33 and 35. This transmission comprises a sun gear 37, attachedto the stub shaft 15 by pin 39, one end of the gear being carried in abearing 41 in ring 23. The sun gear 37 centrally meshes with a group ofplanetary gears 43, rotatable on pins 45, the latter being carried in aplanetary gear cage or arm member 47. Arm member 47 is supported inbearings 49, carried in ring 23 and 25, and is keyed as shown at 51 to asecond sun gear 53; Sun gear 53 in turn meshes centrally with a group ofplanetary gears 55, rotatably mounted on pins 57 carried in a secondplane planetary gear cage or arm member 59. Member 59 is supported inbearings 61 located in rings 25 and 27. Planetary arm 59 is keyed asshown at 63 to a third sun gear 65 which meshes centrally with a groupof planetary gears 67, rotatably. mounted on pins 69 carried in a thirdplanetary gear cage or'arm member 71. Arm member 71, as indicated by 73,is keyed to a driven shaft 75. Shaft is supported in bearings 77 carriedin the cup-shaped portion 79 of the flange unit F. The shaft 75 rotrudesfrom the member F where it is keyed, as shown at 81, to the capstan 1.For economy, all of the planetary gears 43, 55 and 67 are preferablyidentical; and the orbit gears 31, 33 and 35 are preferably identical.

When the motor M is excited, the drive to capstan 1 is as follows:

Sun gear 37 drives the planet gears 43 so that they roll within theorbit gear 31 and turn arm member 47, producing a speed reduction to sungear 53. Sun gear 53 drives the planet gears 55 which roll within theorbit gear 33 and turn arm 59, producing a speed reduction to sun gear65. The sun gear 65 drives the planet gears 67 so that they roll withinthe orbit gear 35 and turn arm 71, producing a speed reduction to shaft75. The total speed reduction between the motor M and the shaft 75 isthe product of the three speed reductions above mentioned. Thus thespeed reducer is of the compound coaxial planetary type, lending itselfto a compact coaxial arrangement with the motor M, the assembly S, Mextending from the flange F. The compactness of the arrangement isapparent from FIGS. 1, 3 and 4.

The driving direction is shown by straight darts 83 in 'FIG. 3 and bythe solid curved dart 85 in FIG. 1. For

safety, reverse rotation such as suggested by the dotted dart 87 in FIG.l'is to be prevented. This is effected by the one-way ratchet type brakeC, which consists (FIG. 3)

of an outer race 89 fixed in the cup 79 of the flange unit F. The shaft75 is provided with an integral cylindrical inner race 91. Rockingsprags 93 are located between the outer race 89 and the inner race 91,these being held in circular order by annular springs, diagrammaticallydrive. the capstan clockwise in the driving direction but reverse drivefrom the capstan 1 to the motor M is ime possible, because the sprags 93lock shaft 95 to .theflange unit F in response to application of reversetorque. Thus under conditions in which the motor M is d'e-excited due toan open circuit, or perhaps burn-out, or possibly a failure inthetransmission S, the capstan 1 cannot turn backward, or anticlockwise.This safety feature allows the motor and transmission to be designedmore compactly with a minimum so-calledfactor of safety, since anyfailures therein will not result in reverse rotation under reversetorque applied to the capstan 1.

at the bottom of. the pole P and an operator such as O standing at theswitch W. The line 21' isconnectedto the supply'circuit A throughthe'switch W. The switch W is of the waterproof type, havinga flexiblewaterproof casing 99 sealed to the wires A and 21 andcontaining anormally open, pressure-closed switch 101. The switchoperating button isshown at 103. When the operator;

steps on the casing 99, button 103. is depressed "to close the switch101. When the foot pressure is relieved, the switch reopens.

no footing;

' The assembly 1, F, S, M thus far described is supportedon a bracketformed by two'extending angled wing por-' tions forming an approximatelyV-shaped cradle structure adapted to engagev various sizes of poles atspaced'points. These wings are bolted to the flange F by bolts 107 (FIG.4). One angled side or leg of the bracket includes handles 109 flankingthe assembly S, M. The angled sides of the V-shaped bracket 105 areprovided with channels 111, which are open at their outer ends 113 andtapered at their inner ends 115 where they are provided with anchors-117 for flexible loop means-in the form of chains119 and 121,respectively (FIGS. 4 and At 123 is shown a quick-detachable chainclamp, consisting of integrally formed, crossed tubular portions 125 and127. An opening 129 through the tubular portion 125 is designedslidingly to receive the chain 121 and, as shown in FIG. 7, is providedwith an endwise notch,

The switch W may also be hand-open ,7 ated if need be, as for examplewhen an operator is perched on some structural member or the likeproviding maybe drawn into the tubular. member 127, assuming that a linkof the free end of the chain 121 has been located in the notch 131of-tubular. member 125. This tightens or squeezes the chains around apole such as P, thus holding or squeezing the bracket 105 in place.- InFIG. 4 a comparatively small pole isshown in solid lines. The brokenlinesillustrate application to a pole of larger diameter, which wouldrequire'adj'ustment as notch 131 for 1 a greater length of the chain 121extendingfrom member 125. On one of the legs of the bracket105 arelocated pole gouging'points 149. Itis preferable that these be placed inone leg only, rather than in'both legs of the bracket 105, since abetter gouging effect is thus. obtained for a given pull on chains 119'and 121. i

into which one link of thefree-end portion of the chain may be fitted toanchor it (see FIG. 7). The other tubular portion 127 is provided with asquare opening which across its corners accepts chain links '(FIGS. 4and 6).

It also accepts the square. end 133 of a draw screw 135g This square end133 is slotted, as shown at 137,'and is provided with pin 139,permanently passing through an In FIG. 8 (wherein likenumerals-designate likeparts) is shown another form of the invention inwhich, instead of the motor M, a high-speed gasoline engine E isattached to thespeedreducer S.- In this case the crankshaft 151 speedsthe clutch is open and disconnectsfthe engine E from the speed reducerS. :At a higher'desired engine (one at which it has a favorable torqueoutput) the clutch.

153- closes and forms a driving. connection.

' In order to control the engineE,.the apparatus shown in FIG. 9 isemployed. In this figure, numeral 155 indicates the engine air intake,under control of the throttle .valve 157, which is rotary ona pivot pin159. Attached to the pin 'is a lever 161,-adapted to be snapped intoeither of two-different extreme positions by means of :an overcentering'spring 163 anchored at one 'end to a gudgeon-165 on-lever 161' and atthe otherend into an eye 167. Extreme positions of the lever-161 aredetermined by adjustablefidle, and run, stop screws 169 and 171,respectively. Adjacent the lever 161 is the end portion o-fa push-pullwire 173 on-which are spaced collars 175 and 177. The push pull wire 173pases through a flexible tube or. control cable'179. The latter extendsto a housing 181. This housing is flexible and encloses a mechanism.consisting of a" toggle link 183 pivotally affixed at 185 and having aknee pivot connection -187 with asecond toggle link 189. Link 189 has abottom end pin 191, to which the push-pull wire 173'is held by a setscrew 195. The pin 191 slides in slots,,one of-wh-ich-is shown at 197. gV

' The pin 1851and'SlOtS 197'are inflanges 198 of a channel member 200located in the housing 181 Only one slot 197 in one flange 200 appearsin FIG.9,-the others being duplicates as will be obvious. The toggle(FIG. 9). is held inbroken position by atension spring 199, attached tolin-ksf183 and 189 at points 201 and 2 03, respectively. The upper endof the link 189 carriesa pivoted member 205, forming a connection with ashoe 207.

The spring 199 normally'holds the toggle1183, 189 in broken position,thus forcing the push-pull wire 173 to push the collar 177 against level161, which snaps against the stop 169 and sets the throttle valve 157 tothe idle position. Whenthe operator steps onthe flexible housing 181,the toggle is flattened, thus pulling the push-pull wire 173 so thatcollar 175 pushes lever'161 toward throttleopen or run position aaginststop 17 1. The spring 163 snaps the lever 161 after overcentering, sothat-the lever 161 is then firmly held against the running stop screw171; By thisrneans the speed of the engine will'becontrolled betweenidling speed (clutcl1-153 open) and running speed (clutch 153 closed).It will be understood that the cable 179 and its connected push-pullwire are of such length that the foot control device, generallyindexed'B,

can be operated at a safe distance frompole P, as in the case of switchW'. 7

Operation is as follows, referring to the for'm of the invention shownin FIG. 1: a I 7 Assume that a load (transformer T) rests 'on the groundand that a hitch has been made to it by the'rope R. The

.5 free end of the rope is then wrapped around the capstan 1, as shown,in the same direction as the motor rotation, employing several loops tofunction in due course as a cinch. Then the operator walks with the ropeto the switch W and steps on the latter. This starts the motor M.Without tension in the rope there not be enough friction to cause anycinching or consequent lifting action. By pulling on the rope with, say,a six-pound pull, there will be enough friction at its loops around thecapstan to act as a cinch and to cause the turning capstan to wind ropeso as to lift the load. To continue any lifting action, the operatordraws in and maintains thenecessary pull on the rope as it pays off fromthe capstan. The direction of rotation for lifting is shown by the soliddart 85 and the manual pull force by the arrow 86.

When the operator wishes to terminate lifting action he takes his footoff the switch .W, thus de-energizing the motor. But he maintains hislight pull on the rope. Then the load causes the rope to tend to forcethe capstan 1 in the direction of the dotted dart 87, but rotationcannot occur because of the self-locking nature of the oneway brake C.The cinching action of the rope'on the locked capstan under theoperators light pull prevents the load from dropping. Hence the load issuspended as long as the light six-pound or so tension is maintained onthe rope by the operator 0. Should he desire to allow the load todescend,, as by inching it down to a desired position in a socket or forbolting or the like, he simply reduces the pull on the rope to reducethe cinching friction at the loops around the capstan 1. The rate ofdescent can be accurately controlled, be it of an inching nature or morerapid, depending upon the force of the operators pull. It is evenpossible to permit the load to inch downward while the motor is running,by reducing the pull on the rope R; but this is not the preferred methodfor allowing its descent. Thus it will be seen that the invention isadapted for fine control of lifting and lowering operations.

Another feature of the invention is its safety. For example, shouldanything (pin, key or gear) break in the speed reducer S, the load willnot drop because of the braking hold on the capstan 1 by the fixed unitF afforded by the one-way brake C. It is noteworthy that the danger ofcomplete failure of a one-way brake such as C, which usually involves acompletely safe number of sprags such as 93, is remote. It is notdiflicu-lt to provide an extra margin of safety in the key 81 because ofthe length of the connection available between the capstan 1 and theshaft 75. On the other hand, there is a greater potentiality of failurein compactly arranged motor and speed reducer parts, but this can haveno dangerous effect because of the safety feature above described. Thusthe motor and the speed reducer S, which would ordinarily need to bemade of bulky size for safety, are brought down to a size forportability and any reduced factor of safety resulting from such designis prevented from having any dangerous results because no reverse-actingtorque can ever reach the speed reducer S or the motor. Heretofore,winches, capstans and the like have been driven from such bulky motorand transmis sion equipment that they could not be made portable enoughfor use with pole-clamping equipment (such as shown in FIG. 4). Formerlysuch equipment was carried on the trucks and required much morecomplicated tackle arrangements between the distant truck and the load.

Operation of the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 will beclear from that above given in connection with the form of the inventionin FIGS. 1-7.

While a motor and a gasoline engine have been illustrated as primemovers, other power sources may also be employed such as air orhydraulic motors, provided the device is to be used in locations wherecompressed air or hydraulic lines are available to supply the motivefluid. For pole line work the motor drive is best because of theavailability of electricity. The engine drive provides greatestindependence from power systems.

' A special feature of the capstan 1 is that it is composed of a lightmetallic or other material. If aluminum, magnesium or like metal isemployed, it is provided with a hard anodic oxide surface such asobtained by so-called anodizing or hard-coating, the hard anodic surfacebeing developed to the order of three mils or so thickness. This notonly provides a hard abrasion-proof surface, but constitutes anadditional safety feature. Ropes that are cinched around metalliccapstans often abrade metallic particles from the caprstans, which embedin and on the rope to form a contaminating coating. Since this makes therope electrically conductive it becomes dangerous in pole lineoperations. The hard anodic oxide surface in the first place is quiteabrasion-proof, and even if some particles were to gather in or on therope they are not ahazard, being nonconductive. If desired, the plasticnonconductive surface may be applied to the capstan .surface, or theentire capstan body may be so composed, with the exception of its hubfor keying.

The coaxial arrangement of the motor M, speed reducer S and capstan 1 isadvantageous from the viewpoint of compactness. pound planetary form ofthe reducer which lends itself to such a coaxial arrangement. Moreover,the end of cylindrically formed planetary speed reducer and one-waybrake C are conveniently coaxially contained in the cupshaped flangeunit F. In addition, the skirt portion 209 of the capstan 1 coaxiallysurrounding the unit F, furthers compactness and considerably shortensthe over-all dimensions of the device.

The portable assembly as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 may be reversed inposition (end-for-end) from that shown, and it may also be mounted withthe capstan extending upward or downward. Hence the assembly will servein a large variety of locations which, with other apparatus, would bedifficult to accomplish. It will also be appreciated that by suitablymodifying the bracket holding parts, they can be hitched to manydifferent objects, such as, for example, manhole ladders and the likefor drawing cable through underground passages.

By the term compound planetary speed reducer is meant herein one inwhich planetary components are connected in a coaxial series. Aplanetary component is defined as one having an input sun gear, astationary orbit gear, a planetary arm member connected to an outputmember, and at least one planet gear carried by the planetary arm memberand meshed inwardly with the sun gear and outwardly with the orbit gear.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of theinvention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As various changes could be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

What is claimed is:

1. Compact portable load hoisting and pulling apparatus comprising asupport, a shaft rotatable in the support around an axis, a capstancarried by said shaft, a selflocking one-way ratchet type brake operatedbetween said shaft and the support, a bracket on said support, saidbracket being of cradle form adapted for cradling contact with poles andof a configuration adapted when the bracket is on a pole to place saidaxis in a nonintersecting position with respect to the pole center lineand at a substantially right angle thereto, whereby the capstan extendsnonradially from one side of the pole, a speed reducer having a housingcontaining torque input and output members at opposite ends thereof,said housing being connected to said support at its output end, saidtorque output member being connected with said shaft, the input end ofsaid speed reducer being free of the sup- This is made possible by thecomspeed reducer, said motor having a rotatable shaft connectediw'rthsaid torque input member of the'speed reducer, saidcapstan shaft,motor shaft and-torque input and output members being coaxial.

2. Compact portable load hoisting and pulling apparatus comprising abracket, means adapted to effect quick attachment and detachment of thebracket to and from poles or the like, a support carried by the bracket,21 capstan rotatably mounted upon said support, a planetarytype'speed'reducer having a casing carried by said support, said casinghaving at its ends rotary torque input and output drive membersrespectively, said torque'output member being connected With thecapstan, the output end of the casing of the speed reducer beingattached to said support and its input end extending free of the supportand bracket, an electric motor having a drive connection With saidtorque input member and having aoasing carried onthe free input end ofthe casing of the speed reducer and supported thereby independently ofthe support and the bracket, the axes of rotation of the I motor, thecapstan and both of said drive members being coaxial, and a self-lockingone-Way ratchet type brake operative between the capstan andsaid-supportadapted in the absence of driving torque to the capstan automaticallyand substantially; instantaneouslylo prevent rotation of sa-idcapst'anin a direction opposite to said load driving direction.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 927,200Wick July 6, 1909' 1,397,937 Spencer f Nov.'2 2, 1921' 1 ,935,975Donandt Z Nov. 21, 1933 1,955,127 Heintz Apr. 17,1934 2,218,821 Jenningset a1. Oct; 22,1940 2,584,883 Karsch' L Feb. 5, 1952 2,714,434 PetersonAug. '2, 1955 2,773,239 Parker Dec. 4, 1956 2,833,384 Wilson May 6, 19582,908,183 Di Giovanni f Oct. 13, 1959 FOREIGN, PATENTS 6,493- GreatBritain of 19 08 520,089 Great Britain Apr. 15, 1940 1,032,813, 1953

1. COMPACT PORTABLE LOAD HOISTING AND PULLING APPARATUS COMPRISING ASUPPORT, A SHAFT ROTATABLE IN THE SUPPORT AROUND AN AXIS, A CAPSTANCARRIED BY SAID SHAFT, A SELFLOCKING ONE-WAY RATCHET TYPE BRAKE OPERATEDBETWEEN SAID SHAFT AND THE SUPPORT, A BRACKET ON SAID SUPPORT, SAIDBRACKET BEING OF CRADLE FORM ADAPTED FOR CRADLING CONTACT WITH POLES ANDOF A CONFIGURATION ADAPTED WHEN THE BRACKET IS ON A POLE TO PLACE SAIDAXIS IN A NONINTERSECTING POSITION WITH RESPECT TO THE POLE CENTER LINEAND AT A SUBSTANTIALLY RIGHT ANGLE THERETO, WHEREBY THE CAPSTAN EXTENDSNONRADIALLY FROM ONE SIDE OF THE POLE, A SPEED REDUCER HAVING A HOUSINGCONTAINING TORQUE INPUT AND OUTPUT MEMBERS AT OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF,SAID HOUSING BEING CONNECTED TO SAID SUPPORT AT ITS OUTPUT END, SAIDTORQUE OUTPUT MEMBER BEING CONNECTED WITH SAID SHAFT, THE INPUT END OFSAID SPEED REDUCER BEING FREE OF THE SUPPORT, AN ELECTRIC MOTOR ATTACHEDTO SAID FREE END OF THE SPEED REDUCER, SAID MOTOR HAVING A ROTATABLESHAFT CONNECTED WITH SAID TORQUE INPTU MEMBER OF THE SPEED REDUCER, SAIDCAPSTAN SHAFT, MOTOR SHAFT AND TORQUE INPUT AND OUTPUT MEMBERS BEINGCOAXIAL.